Northwest Living | Bellingham Real Estate Market

During the whole month of December we have been developing a brand new Whatcom County real estate web site in order to better serve our buyers and sellers for the Whatcom County area.  The site will also provide services to the Skagit County, Island County, and San Juan County real estate market as well.

Our new web site will provide extensive information about the Whatcom County area to better inform buyers relocating to our area. 

The search real estate capabilities will be built out over time and we have joined the REW web site capabilities on our WhatcomRealEstate.com site with our WhatcomHomeSearch.com to create a Dynamic web site of the future. The combination of these two sites together will serve our current clients and future clients needs in so many ways, that we feel we will be providing them with many advantages over the competition.  

 When I saw this on a home improvement ideas web site about a year ago, I saved the site and didn’t think much about it.  I was just clearing out my faovrite saved web sites the other day and thought it was interesting enough to share here with my readers. What a smart idea having several pull out drawers in your stairs. 

Some genius came up with this idea of installing custom pull out drawers under each step on the stairs.  In the example here the designer is using the space for shoes, but I could see a ton of uses for something like this.  This would be a great storage idea especially for anyone thats building a small two-story home, condominium, or townhome.

In Bellingham WA here our local public officials are attempting to solve the affordable housing issue.  I think this would be a great idea for those individuals or families that have to build a small home and need a little extra storage space.

When I first saw this I wondered how the stairs and the storage space would hold up over the years with all the up and down traffic.  According to the article though, the way the stairs are built there really isn’t any difference between this type of construction vs the normal finish.

Another area that a homeownder could pickup on extra storage space is all the area that usually goes unused under the stairs.  So many times over the last fifteen years I’ve watched homes being built and thought that space would be great for storage.  But in most cases its not used at all or just a small closet is put in and the rest of the space is unused behind a wall of drywall.

Well I hope this might give someone an idea for when they go to build a home some day.

 Before buying that brand new home you might want to consider a few things as part of the process. In the excitement of looking at a brite and shiny new home, sometimes one forgets to consider some of the following thoughts:

Check builders reputation - Ask your Realtor about the builders reputation, how long have they been building, and maybe some addresses on homes they recently built.  Nothing wrong with making sure they have a good reputation and will stand behind their product.  If you have any doubts, maybe call the local builders association and see what they say as well.

New Home Inspection - If you don’t know the reputation of the builder and especially if their only building a few homes in a community, look into getting an inspection.  Even though the home will go through a full inspection from the permit process, and the builders themselves, Items can be missed.  The builder I represent usually doesn’t mind having one, and looks at it as the final inspection to make sure he didn’t forget anything.  It also saves him the hassle of having to fix something later.  With that said, I usually only see about 1 inspection for every 4 brand new home I’ve sold in the past 15 years. It’s just something to think about and cheap insurance when your out spending $400,000 on a brand new home. 

Builder Warranty - Most builders today will provide at least a one year warranty on the purchase of a new home.  In the state of Washington it’s mandatory that all homes come with at least a one year warranty.  Make sure you read the builders warranty and what it covers.  Ask your Realtor lots of questions on this and how do you go about getting items done if problems do eventually arise.

Walk thru orientation - I’ve been working with a local builder for almost fourteen years and one added feature they provide is a 1-2 hour orientation with the new home buyers.  The builder or one of his reps will go through the entire home and explain how the house works and answers a lot of questions at the time of the walk-thru. It’s a great way to create a nice bond between the builder of the home and the new home buyer.

They don’t call it a walk-thru inspection because that sounds so confrontational to begin with.  Even though during the walk-thru orientation, there are occasional items that are addressed and then completed prior to closing of the home.

Change all the Utilities - within a few days of the closing date make sure you contact all the utility companies and make arrangements to have all the utilities changed into your name.  Sometimes you can avoid costly deposits by doing this while the utilities are still in the builders name.  The other reason you want to do this within a few day of closing, is to avoid having them turned off and then having to pay a fee to have a utility rep come out.  The builder will usually be calling the utilities to take his name off that house on the expected closing date, so I would make these calls.

I’m fortunate to live in an area like Bellingham, WA where most of the builders in the Whatcom County area have pretty good reputations. It’s always good to make sure as a new home buyer to do your home work and due diligence before buying.  When every thing falls in place though, there’s nothing like owning a brand new home.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA 98225 - Bellingham Real Estate

  The Liberty Park neighborhood located in the North Bellingham area of Ferndale, Washington has announced their Fall 2007 Ferndale open house schedule. The Ferndale community will have open houses every Saturday and Sunday from Noon to 5pm.  Liberty Park will have four brand new two story homes and two one story homes open to the public.

The new Ferndale homes are also open Monday thru Friday from 10am to 5pm during the week.  At the open houses buyers will be able to experience several finished homes by Roosendaal-Honcoop Const. and all the fine finishes the homes builder provides.  The Quality of an RH Home is unmatched in the price range that they compete against in the Ferndale and North Bellingham new homes market.

The Ferndale New Homes can also be found under the Bellingham Herald open house section of the Sunday newspaper. Go to the open house section and look under The Muljat Group ad for the Bellingham Herald.  The Bellingham Herald also has open house ads on-line by going to Bellingham Herald, then Real Estate, Open Houses and finally click on Home Finder.

Roosendaal-Honcoop Const. have been building fine homes since 1979 and have built close to 150 homes in the North Bellingham area alone.  Some of their finished communities include Bellaire Estates, W. 54th, Byers Lane, Myers Estates and many custom homes in this area of Ferndale, WA.

Stop by one of their open houses and pick up a Liberty Park Packet, home plans, plat map, and much more to help you in your new home buying descisions.  They encourage buyers in the new home market to compare their homes to the rest of the market and you’ll see why they are rated as one of the best builders in Whatcom County.

Brought to you by Jerry Campbell, Realtor - The Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA 98225

New local firms help consumers find environmentally friendly homes.  Kathryn Crawford’s concern for the environment influenced where she decided to work and what she does for a living.

It’s not surprising, then, that when Crawford decided to buy a home in Everett, she wanted a real estate agent who understood a “green” home means more than energy-efficient appliances and solar panels.

“I didn’t think a traditional agent would understand what I was looking for,” said Crawford, a community planner with a strong environmental ethos.

She became one of the first clients of a new Everett-based real estate brokerage focused on helping clients buy and sell properties built with green practices and products.

The business, Greening Properties, is the first of its kind in Everett. A handful of area agents at traditional brokerages specialize in green properties, and a company with similar aims, GreenWorks Realty, operates in Seattle.

Green agents aren’t the only sign the Northwest real estate industry is getting greener. The Northwest Multiple Listing Service recently added environmental check boxes to its listing forms, so homebuyers and agents can identify homes with certain features or third-party certifications. A homeowner can now tell, for instance, if a home offers Energy Star appliances, renewable bamboo floors or a drought-tolerant landscape.

Greening Properties operates like a regular brokerage, representing both buyers and sellers and providing standard services such as market analysis for sellers and presenting offers and negotiating on behalf of buyers.

What differs is knowledge of green practices and products, say owners Valerie Steel and Mary Ehrlich. Both have a history of community involvement, particularly on local environmental issues. Both were founding members of the Everett Shorelines Coalition, formed to protect shorelines, and Historic Everett, focused on preserving buildings with historic significance.

The term “green building” covers a lot of ground, including design, materials and building practices. One client may be interested in energy efficiency while another may be concerned about building materials that could exacerbate a child’s asthma.

Green encompasses a home that’s smaller and more energy-efficient, and it also can apply to older homes, since buying one doesn’t require the use of new resources. Sustainable homes also include touches a homeowner may never see, such as recycled materials, and paints and finishes that emit fewer toxic fumes. It may also mean the land was developed in a way that minimizes erosion, or workers recycled materials at the job site.

The specialty knowledge includes the ability to cut through what’s green and what’s marketing, Ehrlich said. The pair saw a recent listing where an agent misrepresented the greenness of a property, describing a home as green because it had a brick facade.

The company also differs from a traditional brokerage by providing clients with a livability checklist based on criteria by various green certification agencies such as Built Green and the American Green Building Council. For buyers, that checklist compares the features of properties they might wish to buy.

For sellers, the company rates sustainability of property and recommends how to make it more sustainable before it’s listed. For instance, if a client planned to spruce up his home with new paint and carpet before listing it, the agent might recommend using low-fume paint and a renewable flooring such as bamboo instead of carpet, Ehrlich said.

Demand for homes with green features is growing, and it can be difficult to find homes with certain green features, Steel said. Finding a home with Energy Star appliances is easier, while finding a home on land that hasn’t been “slashed and scraped” by developers is more difficult, she said.

Crawford, one of the company’s first clients, didn’t expect to find a green home ready for her to move in. Instead, she asked Steel to find an older home with “good bones” that she could remodel. She settled on a solid 2,220-square-foot home in the Port Gardner neighborhood, and she is already making plans to add solar roof tiles, replace windows and add bamboo floors. Via HeraldNet

If any of our viewers want more information on green homes visit Tree Hugger, these guys post an amazing 20-25 articles a day and have a ton of resources living green.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group Realtors - Bellingham WA -Bellingham Green Homes supporter

Talk about being in the right place at the right time.  While property speculators and house flippers in places such as Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and San Diego are running for cover, in other parts of the country home owners are fairing a little better with residential sales. Third-quarter median home prices last year climbed 14.6 percent in Seattle, Wash.; 12.3 percent in Portland, Oregon; and the rest of the Northwest appears to be the hottest market in America.

Home prices also increased by roughly 5 percent in Houston, Texas; Los Angeles, Calif.; Austin, Texas; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Charlotte, N.C., over the year before, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Price figures are based on total metropolitan areas as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget. So, while the New York City metro area grew at a solid, but not blockbuster, rate of 3.6 percent, officials from New York’s Finance Department say the five boroughs grew at 19 percent in 2006 — twice the 2005 figure — with prices in Brooklyn and the Bronx swelling 27.6 percent from the previous year.

For the rest of the country, median home prices dropped 1.2 percent, on average. The area strongest hit by the slow down was the Northeast, where median home prices plunged 4.8 percent over the last year.

Homeowners out west were much better off over the last year and half, where Realtors expect prices to continue to rise. The Seattle real estate market has stayed hot even while most areas of the country have slowed down.  There are a lot of buyers relocating to our area and move up buyers are still active in the market.  Our economy remains strong, interest rates are still relatively low and employment numbers have remained strong this past year.  Seattle, Washington has long been a desirable area to live but the available amount of land to build on is in short supply.  On one side of Seattle is the Puget Sound and to the east are the Cascade Mountains.  So when this area grows we have to go north and south along the I-5 corridor. There’s not much room to grow, so you’ve got a lot of home buyers vying for smaller and smaller pieces of land.

In my own market up in Whatcom County, the Bellingham real estate market has experienced a slow down in the number of homes sold over the last eighteen months.  We haven’t experienced any noticeable drops in overall prices but days on market is definitely up with so many properties on the market.  I think once we start to see the over all number of properties on the market go down, we should start to bottom out and experience a leveling out of this market for several years.

The Northwest showed gains exhibited high job growth and positive net migration figures. They were also areas in which home affordability remained close to national averages through the boom, making them less prone to the corrections and adjustments seen in overheated markets.

Cities most affected by the downturn were old-line industrial markets such as Detroit or Lansing, where local economies are suffering the effects of mass layoffs in the auto industry.

In the Northeast, the number of jobs created last year grew by only 0.8 percent, according to the New England Economic Partnership (NEEP), versus the 1.3 percent national growth rate. If that’s not bad enough, NEEP’s projections for increases in gross regional product and per capita income also lag significantly behind national averages.
As a result, people are leaving the area. The latest United States Census net migration figures indicate that 4.6 percent more people left the region than entered it last year. The regional real estate market also experienced a 4.8 percent drop in median prices. On the flipside, the South’s economic conditions lead to the nation’s best migration rate (3.4 percent) and subsequently, at -.1 percent, the nation’s best median home price growth figures.

From 2004 to 2005, median homes prices in most of the cities that are now resisting downturn, such as Austin and Charlotte, grew at slower rates than the national average.
This made them less susceptible to the sudden swings of a high-flying, highly speculative market such as Miami. In this area, median home price exploded from $232,000 in 2003, to $391,000 at the end of 2005, driven by a market in which builders couldn’t keep pace with demand. Miami’s real estate market has since corrected, moving down 5.6 percent from its peak.

In the highest growth markets, there were a lot of home buyers who panicked when they saw prices going up by 8, 10 or 12 percent a year and rushed to buy in. Once prices started to fall in high growth markets, speculators got an itchy trigger finger because prices went up so high that it was very difficult to buy; affordability had gotten out of hand and people worried that if they waited six to eight months to sell, they’d be left holding the bag. The result is a short-term adjustment.”  Steadier, more tempered growth translates into a stable real estate conditions because affordability remains in line with local economic conditions. Thats why areas like Seattle have been able to weather this market so well.

“In markets with sharp transitions, there was a lot of speculative, short-run buying” says Lawrence Yun, a senior economist with the National Association of Realtors. “In places like Texas or North Carolina, home prices are affordable and there is a good job creating the environment. In Seattle, the job market is strong and while home prices are above the national average, they are affordable by West Coast standards.”

What’s more, when home values grew too quickly, builders rushed to keep up and when the market peaked, construction slowed and there was excess inventory. For example, this week the nation’s largest home builder, D.R. Horton, reported a 60 percent quarterly drop in earnings. In my own market of Bellingham, WA; D.R Horton sales slowed way down and then an unrelated moratorium put a hold on new starts for about 4 months.  D.R. Horton is building brand new homes in the Cordata area of Bellingham, WA and the moratorium was just lifted.  Now that the Cordata moratorium was lifted there was about 60 permits waiting to get started on new homes, several with D.R. Horton.

Add to the mix speculators anxious to dump property and the result is a jump in residential vacancy rates. Since the end of 2005, when the housing bubble began to pop, nationwide vacancy rates have jumped to 2.5 percent, a nearly 50 percent increase from the 10-year average. Higher vacancy rates give buyers leverage in negotiating price because sellers have excess supply.

Despite the numbers, some in sluggish areas remain hopeful.  In cities such as Boston, where median sales prices were beaten down 4.3 percent from the 2005 peak of $431,000, realtors say the market is still strong.

In the Bellingham real estate market the biggest difference from the peak markets of 2004 and 2005 is that sellers are willing to negotiate more on their prices and the bidding wars aren’t taking place very often any more. The bottom line is, if sellers price their home for sale correctly at the market price, it will move.  Sellers need to be careful not to price their home above a market that could be adjusting down, that would be a disaster in a downward moving market.  Sellers that hold out for higher prices could be chasing a downward market and actually get less for their home in the end, in most cases. 

The buyers in our Whatcom County real estate market don’t seem to have urgency right now because they think if they wait six months, they might get a cheaper price on a home.  Once this home market clearly bottoms out, the buyers will be back and purchasing homes again.

We probably won’t see that fast moving sellers market again for years, if the past is a good indication.  Hot sellers markets usually only last a few years and the buyers market or normal markets are usually a lot longer in the 4 to 10 year range.  There’s no question we will see a hot market again in the future…just not anytime soon.  Partially via Forbes.com

  I listened into CNBC for a couple of hours today around the time of the Fed made their announcement.  I normally listen to the CNBC early in the morning before going into my office, but really wanted to get a good fix on what’s going to happen in 2007.  I’m glad I listened in; there were a lot of Economists, Homebuilder and Journalist weighing in on today’s decision by the fed.

The good news was that the fed decided to leave the rates alone today at 5.25%. The fed has left the rate alone since June 2006 and prior to that raised the rate 17 times in a row.  There are 11 board members that vote on rates and the vote came out 10-1.  CNBC asked a former fed governor why the one vote for a raise and he said that particular governor has voted yes for the past couple of times and probably wanted to be consistent.

The only change in the language that the fed used today was in reference to our industry.  The fed had said that “because of the substantial cooling in the housing market, they will leave rates alone at this time”.  The general consensus was that not only will the fed leave rates alone, they will probably lower rates .25 % by May and probably another .25% by the end of 2007.

With that said…it really all depends on the economic growth rate and what happens with inflation.  But for now the biggest worry with the Fed seems to be the housing market and what’s going on with it.  They realize that the housing sector is a big player in the overall market, so they want to watch what they do with rates.  Most analysis agreed today that inflation seems to be in check and in fact we might have a slight slowing of GDP in 2007.  The same analysts are saying the housing sector will slowly recover by the end of 2007.

My guess is that the fed rate will be at 4.75% by this time next year. And we should be in a normal market by 2008.  We need to work the inventory of new homes on the market down to a more comfortable rate before we really start to see a recovery.  Speaking of new homes, CNBC interviewed Robert Toll, CEO of Toll Brothers, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders.  Toll says, “Were dancing on the bottom”.  He also mentioned that in the market his company build in traffic has been up 20-30 percent and deposits on homes to purchase have slowly started to go up.

I think the main thing I’ve tried to do as a Realtor during the past 18 months, is not listen to the Negative Chatter. After 14 years in this business and another 12 years prior to that on the building side…one needs to be careful about listening to the negative talk or Negative Chatter. The bottom line is, people are always quicker to spread bad news, before good news.  The problem with listening to the negative people is that if you’re not paying attention on what’s really going on in the market, you can miss a buying opportunity!
I think right now is a great buying opportunity with interest rates at 6.11 percent, higher than normal inventories, winter time markets generally are better buying opportunities and of course were in a buyers market. 

Here’s a few of the article’s I read this week that I’m adding here for my viewers.  Each and every week when I’m posting to the blog, I read and review a lot of news articles and blogs.  It’s imperative that one studies this market constantly to be a well informed source when on the subjects I write about.  So here is my list of articles for the week of Dec. 16 to Dec 22, 2006.

$14.5M slated for Bellingham Bay in States budget - Via Bellingham Herald - Dec 20, 2006.  The Port of Bellingham requested money from the state’s Model Toxics Control Act budget to help with cleaning up mercury in Whatcom Waterway. The Model Toxics Control Act is a voter-approved initiative adopted in 1989 to identify, investigate and clean up contaminated sites in Washington.  This is great news for Bellingham Bay and the cleanup efforts in the Whatcom Waterway in preparation for the New Whatcom project going forward.  This whole area in downtown Bellingham presents an exciting time for Bellingham residents and visitors to our great city.

Best and Worst Housing Markets in the U.S. - Via Real Estate Journal - Dec 20, 2006.    Tacoma area rated 3rd best market to outperform the rest of the western states and Seattle-Bellevue area were rated 4th. Portland, Oregon was rated the 5th best on the list.  There were a lot of cities in California that ranked pretty low, because they were overvalued in the survey.

Bellingham Boat Builder thrives in an ‘incredibly dynamic market’ - Via HeraldNet.com - Dec 18, 2006.  In the past four years, All American Marine has grown annually at a 30 percent clip. Matt Mullett CEO, says these days their in the enviable position of choosing what projects the company should go after. His only limitation is having enough qualified workers to do the job. 

Whidbey Island Takes Storm’s Biggest Punch - Via HeraldNet.com - Dec 16, 2006.   All of Whidbey Island lost power last Thursday night when Puget Sound Energy’s main transmission line to the island was taken out by falling trees.  Winds exceeded 90 mph on many parts of the island.  My father in-law Jack Hill, who lives on the western side of Whidbey Island and had spent 20 years in the Navy said, “It’s the worst storm that he’d seen since he got out of the navy 25 years ago”.

VANOC on track and on budget heading into 2007 - Via Vancouver 2010 - Dec 19, 2006.  VANOC and its partners are planning a number of exciting milestone events in February and March 2007 to celebrate the three-year countdown to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Details will be announced early in 2007.

Boston Ready to go Green - Via The Boston Globe - Dec 20, 2006.    Boston is expected to become the first major city in the nation to require private developers to adhere to a strict set of so-called green-building standards, officials said yesterday.  The goal is to make new buildings more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, by promoting, for example, use of efficient heating and cooling systems, recycled building materials, and careful separation and disposal of waste.

There is an added cost for doing so, but I think the long term benefits of building with green standards will far out weigh the upfront cost of construction.  Infact I think the Bellingham area already has had some of the best examples of builders that have gone green already, especially Rick Dubrow of A-1 Builders in Bellingham, WA.  If Whatcom county ever took on the standards for building Green, Rick Dubrow should definetly be one of the advisors, if not running the committee.  A-1 Builders has literally been building Green for at least 10-15 years.  Good job Rick Dubrow!

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham WA - Bellingham WA Real Estate

 The Liberty Park new homes community of 52 brand new homes is now underway in Ferndale, Washington.  Custom Home builder Roosendaal-Honcoop Construction has nine two story homes available to the public, ranging from 1,871 to 2,891 sqft homes.  They also are offering seven one story homes ranging from 1,607 to 2,060 sqft homes.

RH Const. has been building fine homes in Whatcom County since 1979.  They just completed the very successful Myers Estates project in Ferndale WA, consisting of 42 brand new homes. Prior to these two ferndale projects, they also built most of the homes in nearby Bellaire Estates community, home to 62 upscale homes.  They like to say, “we build communities one home at a time”.

They currently have one home already Sold and completed, two more pending and set to close in early January 2007 and have six homes under construction and listed for sale.  They have a complete web site full of information about Liberty Park Lots, Liberty Park Floor Plans, North Bellingham information, builder info, and lots of home photos.

Their 2007 Schedule of open house’s was just anounced at Liberty Park Open House Schedule.  They also recently released their welcome to Liberty Park announcement at Liberty Park News blog site. 

Brought to you by Jerry Campbell, Realtor - The Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA 98225

Here’s this weeks news that caught my attention and I thought would be worthy of passing on to my viewers. 

Home Staging Boosts Home Sales – via Rismedia.com  Dec 8, 2006  As sellers and Realtors look for ways to distinguish their homes from the competition, home staging has become the hottest tool in an increasingly competitive market. In fact just today my wife and I were staging one of the new homes in Brand New Liberty Park located in Ferndale, Washington. I’ve always believed in staging homes for sale when ever I market a home in my Bellingham, WA and Whatcom County market area.  It’s especially important to do in a brand new home to make new home buyers feel more comfortable in an otherwise empty house.  Adding a little bit of jazz music in the back ground never hurts either.

Home Builders see bottom of housing slump – via CNNMoney.com   Dec 5, 2006.
The worst of the housing slump may be over, but it could take awhile before prices rebound.

Home-loan demand rises as refinancing surges – via MSNBC.   Dec 6, 2006
U.S. mortgage applications rose sharply last week, fueled by a surge in home refinancing loans as interest rates sunk to their lowest levels in more than a year, an industry trade group said Wednesday.

The US jobs market adds 132,000 jobs for November 2006 - via Nightly Business Report.  Dec 8, 2006.  Elaine Chao, US Labor Secretary was reporting the news in an interview.  She went on to say unemployment stood at only 4.5 percent.  Looks like the US economy is still growing, but there doesn’t appear to be any inflation worries on the horizon.  It’s expected that the fed will not raise the prime rate in next Tuesday Dec 12, 2006 Federal Reserve meeting.   The Dow Jones gained 114 over the five days of market ending this week. 

Salmon return to Padden Creek - via Bellingham Herald  Dec. 8, 2006
Bellingham, WA school children from Larrabee Elementary School learn to be conservationist with their salmon spawning projects.  Good job kids and thanks for being good stewards in our great Bellingham community

Chuckanut park district proposed – via Bellingham Herald.   Dec. 5, 2006
The group is proposing to preserve land in southern Whatcom County and northern Skagit County for recreation, open space, habitat and ecological quality.  The proposed district would include Sehome Hill Arboretum at its north end, stretching east to the Lake Whatcom watershed, south along the Interstate 5 corridor as far as Samish Island.